Combine world record

[Coolnorth]

Hi all,

Just thought you might be interested in this article. I would have likes to see it in person, but was not able to get there in time to view the 200 combines working on a world record harvest!

Graham


CBC News - Manitoba - Massive harvest for record books and charity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnnm5zWC02g

 

[Johndeere3720]

Thats a lot of combines! I wonder how long the row of combines was?

 

[farmboy12]

Thanks!

BTW, there's a new Gator XUV at 9:24.


Kyle

 

[Big Wave D]

Coolnorth,

Thanks for the post.

I read the article and saw they were harvesting wheat, but here's my question.

When they harvest wheat, rye, oats, etc. around me, the combines have wide heads with reels on them. These machines seem to have much smaller heads and the wheat was 'wind rowed', for lack of a better term.

Can you explain to me the difference in farming methods from the Midwest to the great plains of our northern brothers please?

 

[Coolnorth]

Hi Big Wave D,

In a word, no. I suspect, however, that they found any combine that they could to simply have the numbers for the world record. The Winkler area is probably the most eastern area of the bread-basket, as you hit Saskatchewan and Alberta, you'd see the wider heads in use.

My personal experience with wheat so far is to spread it with grass seed in a walk-behind distributor to help repair my lawn (the wheat growing quickly, shading the grass seed) and planted 40 lb of wheat to get some ground coverage at the edge of my small vegetable field to reduce erosion.

I heard the ads for the event a week ago and was intrigued enough to look it up after the fact.

Graham

 

[Cam-Saskatoon Canada]

BWD
Not being a farmer but living in farm country, maybe I can give an answer to your question. A lot of times, the crops don't ripen all at the same time so "straight combining" (with a reel and cutter on the combine) is difficult with such variable moisture. Keep in mind, we have a lot shorter growing season up here than they do in Texas. So a lot of farmers "swath" their crops--that is, cut it with a machine called a swather and lay it in windrows. With a little sun and a bit of wind and a bit of time, the grain in the windrows dries to the same level. The combine is then fitted with a "pickup" which is exactly what it sounds like--it picks up the swath and runs it through the combine. Usually the reel is removed from the combine for this operation. Hope this explains well enough.

 

[Big Wave D]

Cam-Saskatoon Canada,

Hey thanks!

That makes perfect sense now.

Appreciate the info.

I must say, it kind of looks funny with those huge combines and running those small pick-up heads. It seems more regal/noble when they strut their stuff and have those massive reels on them like in the lower 48. :laughing:

 

[CharlieS]

So a lot of farmers "swath" their crops--.

Or as they say in North Dakota......a "swatter"

Small grain's are swathed, or windrowed when still a bit green to prevent shelling kernels of grain out of the heads, then after they lay in the field and dry picked up with whats known as a pickup attachement that is attached to a short header on the combine thus feeding the unthrashed grain into the combine. SunD is one of the most used pickup attachements on the market.

 

[Wacky]

Sure is ALOT of GREEN in the picture.

 

[Mountain Goat]

AWESOME! Thanks for the post!

 

[Luremaker]

Thanks for the post Graham. BTW, did you plant any corn this summer?
Steve

 

[Cam-Saskatoon Canada]

BWD
Some more info for you. Swathers used to be 20 feet wide with hole in the middle and a moving belt on each side so you would cut 20 feet of crop at a time and lay it down in a swath (windrow). Now if you think about that for a second, you can see where all the grain heads would be at the top of the swath and therefore dry faster in the sun and wind. As a matter of fact, if you looked at a swath from the top, all you see is grain heads--the straw portion is buried underneath. I said "used to be" because of course, things appear to be getting much bigger. Now I believe they have 40 foot swathers and instead of the hole being in the middle, all 40 feet of grain is layed down out the end of the swather. The next time the farmer goes around the field, the belts that move the grain go in the opposite direction and instead of one swath, they make two side by side. Let me tell you, when the crop is good and that combine is trying to process 80 feet of grain at one time, the smoke starts to belch and the speed of travel goes to a crawl. And that "little" pickup is just working fine, thank you.
I know, I know. More than you wanted to know.

 

[Egon]

all 40 feet of grain is layed down out the end of the swather.

Does that mean the swathers no longer use a Wisconsin engine, belt drive and steer with two levers?

 

[Duffster]

Does that mean the swathers no longer use a Wisconsin engine, belt drive and steer with two levers?

There are still a few of them kicking around.

 

[RadarTech]

I am always amazed at the kindness and ideas that so many put togather to help others.

In a time such as these, extreme measures to help another should always be revered and respected.

Take a look at the efforts we as a group did with the TBN jacket!



thanks for sharing it!


J

 

[jimmyj]

This is very cool, and thanks for explaining the technique used. Chock one up for gool old Winkler Manitoba!!:thumbsup:

 

[D7E]

25-30ft is normal for a swather here on heavier land , Any more than that is just too much of a pile and will not dry as well if it gets wet.